This invention relates to clamps, and relates particularly, but not exclusively, to clamps for preventing pairs of electrical power conductors from being forced apart by the magnetic fields produced when high currents flow in the conductors e.g. the conductors in railguns.
It is well known that a pair of conductors can have magnetic fields, in the presence of high pulsed currents, that cause the conductors to be forced apart. The magnetic force may permanently distort the rails and can cause solid armatures to lose intimate contact with the rails, reducing the conductivity and hence impairing efficiency. To date, the solution to this problem has been the use of extensive, usually cumbersome, mechanical clamps.
One object of the present invention is to provide clamps which advantageously utilise the adverse magnetic effects introduced by the current.